Climate

“The meeting of BASIC countries - Brazil, South Africa, China and India — in Pretoria, South Africa, made a strong statement against EU's carbon tax on aviation at the end of two-day talks. A joint statement of the four countries stated, "Ministers were deeply concerned at the continued unilateral action by the EU to include international aviation in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), including intentions for similar unilateral measures, and called for immediate withdrawal of such actions that violate the multilateral rules-based system and adversely affect trust among parties."

(The Times of India, 7/16/2012)

Energy

“Involving public sector units and providing incentives to buyers are the main challenges for creating voluntary markets for renewable energy certificate (REC) in India, said Pramod Deo, chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. He was speaking in a workshop on renewable energy certificate mechanism on Friday. REC is a market mechanism which helps states that do not have the potential to meet the minimum renewable energy purchase obligations set by the regulatory commission. Deo said a consortium needed to be formed by agencies involved in renewable energy generation and distribution in order to create awareness about the REC market.”

“Sohan Singh’s shoeless children have spent most of their lives hungry, dirty and hot. A farmer in a desert land, Mr. Singh could not afford anything better than a mud hut and a barely adequate diet for his family. But it just so happens that when the hard little bean that Mr. Singh grows is ground up, it becomes an essential ingredient for mining oil and natural gas in a process called hydraulic fracturing. Halfway around the world, earnings are down for an oil services giant, Halliburton, because prices have risen for guar, the bean that Mr. Singh and his fellow farmers raise. Halliburton’s loss was, in a rather significant way, Mr. Singh’s gain — a rare victory for the littlest of the little guys in global trade. The increase in guar prices is helping to transform this part of the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India, one of the world’s poorest places. Tractor sales are soaring, land prices are increasing and weddings have grown even more colorful.”

(The New York Times, 7/16/2012)

Health and Environment

“Delhiites are breathing poison. If you thought CNG had made the Capital's air cleaner, then it's time for a reality check. The alarming pollution levels have blackened Delhi's air to such an extent that it ranks alongside coal town Jharia and unregulated industrial hubs like Ludhiana, Raipur and Kanpur. And it's the ever-increasing numbers of diesel-guzzling passenger cars and trucks plying unregulated on the city's roads that are largely to blame for the situation.”

About

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